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NEWS FROM INDIAN COUNTRY
Looking at Where Native People Stand
in Contemporary Native America
By Suzanne Westerly
Just back from the Sundance Film Festival
in Park City, Utah, where his film Running On Indian Time
premiered; exuberant young filmmaker, Duane Allen Humeyestewa
said, “The experience was a huge success!” Exhausted,
but energized from the positive responses he received after
his film was seen by a packed audience, he proclaimed, “The
whole experience was overwhelming, but positive” and
that he was “ready for the next movie.”
With a challenging schedule of going back and forth from California
to New Mexico he only finished filming last November. The
film was accepted for the Sundance Film Festival at the end
of November, the editing was done by December, the sound finished
in January, and then he left for Sundance January 8th. Quite
a whirlwind!
Growing up on a High Desert Mesa
An outgoing young boy, Duane was always
filled with inspiration. He loved writing stories, it came
naturally to him. In grade school, he impressed his teachers
with his imagination and talent.
Duane spent his young life up on a high desert mesa learning
the ways of his people. His family also instilled in him the
“ambition to do something for myself.” Realizing
he had a lot to learn if he was going to “do things right,”
he focused on his education. Though young, he knew he wanted
to “make it” in the contemporary world outside of
the village of Mishongnovi, the First Village on Second Mesa,
in the Land of the Hopi people.
“When I was fairly young, I wanted to be a filmmaker.
I remember reading short stories that I wrote in fifth and
sixth grade.” One of Duane’s teachers had published
a book filled with stories the children in her class had written.
He came across it again when he was older. In it, there were
several stories he had written while the other kids had one
or two. “It made me wonder, why was I the only one writing?
Then I had a mini epiphany, I was supposed to be writing;
those articles were my first published works.”
It was one of the only times, he said, that he felt good about
“the BIA education system. We seldom had opportunities
like that. The routine was always go to school for art, have
recess and come home. So I give credit to a lot of those teachers
who really pushed and helped shape me into what I am.”
From Hopi to Hollywood
A few months ago, on a warm and sunny
afternoon in Hollywood, a group of actors, writers and directors,
met for a NAFATA (Native American Film And Television Alliance)
meeting at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. After the
meeting we stood talking in the parking lot under the trees,
the green rolling Hollywood Hills as a backdrop. Duane talked
enthusiastically about his present project; a film he wrote,
and was about to direct and produce, called Running On Indian
Time. How did he get from Hopi to Hollywood?
“I was always influenced by film,” he said. “I
remember going from the village, Mishongnovi, down to the
school or the community center building where 16 mm films
from Hollywood were shown on Friday nights. I would always
go down there; me and all these adults, and I'd watch every
film.”
Coming from a supportive family, Duane was raised “with
lots of ambition to do something for myself. I knew for a
fact that I would definitely adapt into the mainstream world
and culture at some point, and I made it a point to go away.”
“I always knew I needed training,” he said. To others
interested in filmmaking, his suggestion is, “go to college
or an academy - you have to have training,” he said earnestly.
“It’s a difficult thing to do, to make it as a filmmaker.
You can dabble, but you'll just be a dabbler the rest of your
life - you must have training.”
So at thirteen, he left Hopi to attend a Prep school in Phoenix,
AZ. After prep school, he attended Loyola Maramount University,
then transferred to the University of New Mexico (UNM) where
he “focused on the technical design aspect of theatre,
film, and TV” and “essentially to study the Southwest.
I did it to understand more thoroughly the culture and the
depth of the history of the people,” he explained, “and
to embellish myself in the arts.” While in NM, Duane
worked on a variety of projects including theatre, television
and films.
He left NM after graduating at the top of his class and with
a knowledge “about where Native people stand in contemporary
Native America - where we are as a people in relation to the
people around us. Where we could go with the technology we
have today.”
In both 1997 and 1998 Duane was chosen to participate in the
Sundance Institute filmmaker’s lab in Utah. There he
gained valuable insight into independent filmmaking, and was
committed “to filmmaking for the rest of my life.”
Setting His Sites on Future Goals
“In terms of modern day Native American movies, I am
going to be a voice, I am definitely going to be there. I’m
going to make it happen,” Duane said with confidence
and determination.
“It’s my lifetime goal and career, it's who I am,”
he continued.
“I’m going to make it a point to help and assist
Native people throughout the country in getting some of this
information out there, to educate people around the world.
Essentially, tell the truth. There are so many art mediums
for presenting your story and sharing your information with
the world. Movies are just one way.”
“One goal is to correct the wrongs that Hollywood has
presented,” Duane continued. “It's a cliché;
everybody says it - we've all talked about it; how they screwed
up the portrayal of Native Americans and the world in general.
We acknowledge that. We want to move on. We want to set it
straight for the rest of the world.”
“I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for having a strong
family foundation, a strong cultural foundation and a really
positive upbringing,” said Duane softly.
“One of the things that I naturally found myself fascinated
with was the dynamics of how Native people, specifically Hopi,
interacted with the outside world and how we even survived
as long as we have with as much influence as we've had.”
His new film Running on Indian Time isn’t about Hopi,
but it is about Pueblo people. Filmed in Santa Fe, Albuquerque,
Zia, and Laguna Pueblo, Duane explains his film as, ”a
mini celebration of tribe, family, and individuality.”
Running on Indian Time is very emotional, poignant and beautiful.
His film gives the audience a glimpse and feel of what it
is like to be a part of today’s Pueblo society, as Duane
blends a mixture of contemporary social issues with traditional
ideologies.
He feels people only want to see “period Native pieces
when they’re romanticized. Then it becomes Not Native.
It becomes Hollywood. And that's what I don't want,”
he said with conviction.
Duane believes that to “collaborate and network is important.
You have to collaborate to some degree. There is always uncertainty
about how it's going to go, how it's going to pay off. Some
people don't want to collaborate, but I have to decide, look
the only way we're going to survive is collaborating. It's
a risk, it's always a risk. I took a chance moving, took a
chance going to school, we take chances everyday. Getting
in your car you take a chance.”
“The whole goal is getting from point A to point B, and
dealing with some of the issues in-between; obstacles, roadblocks,
positive moments, negative moments, they’re just a part
of life,” he said philosophically.
With his energy, Duane will certainly make things happen,
look for his films, Humeyestewa is a name you will remember,
a new voice in cinema.
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